Guinness World Records (GWR) has awarded Cristiano Ronaldo with one of its famous plaques as World’s first male footballer with 200 international caps, News About Nigeria reports.
The Al-Nassr star received the award ahead of Portugal’s clash with Iceland in the ongoing European qualifiers.
The 38-year-old reached his 200 caps with a stunning strike at goal against 10-men Iceland, which inadvertently, became the only goal in the match.
Ronaldo’s excellence in the round leather game leaves nothing to be desired, at both country and club football, since the start of his career.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player is now four international caps ahead of its closest rival Bader Al-Mutawa, who was capped by Kuwait on 196 occasions.
Ronaldo leads Portugal in almost every statistical category after making his senior debut for the Selecao against Kazakhstan in August 2003.
He is the all-time record scorer for Portugal with 123 goals in 200 appearances. The five-time World Best Player also won the European Championship with Portugal in 2016 and the Nations League in 2019.
Sharing his thoughts having won the award, Ronaldo said; “Two hundred games played proves the love I have for my country. For me, it is an extremely important milestone. It means a lot. [Two hundred] is a beautiful number that [no men’s player] has.
Ronaldo added that he never believed he could achieve such height while stating he will keep setting records.
“I’m very proud because this is something I never thought I could reach. And I’m continuing to set records.”
